\ William l^cmptr Wt&i WILLIAM KEMPER WEST an appreciation William temper Wm X A Charge, lS Class of Nine- teen Hundred and Six. Entered ^ April Seven- teenth, Nineteen Hundred and Eleven. Privately Printed Washington Graduate Association, Washington, D. C. Nineteen Hundred and Eleven <^c£ TO A DEPARTED FRIEND ^ ^0*N By Robert Louis Stevenson Though he, that ever kind and true Kept stoutly step by step with you Your whole long gusty lifetime through Be gone a while before, Be now a moment gone before Yet, doubt not, soon the seasons shall restore Your friend to you. He has but turned a corner — still He pushes on with right good will, Thro' mire and marsh, by hough and hill, That selfsame arduous way — That selfsame, upward, hopeful way That he and you, through many a doubtful day, Attempted still. He is not dead — this friend — not dead, But in the paths we mortals tread Got some few trifling steps ahead, And nearer to the end, So that you, too, once past the bend Shall meet again as face to face this friend You fancy dead. Push gayly on, strong heart! the while You travel forward mile* by; mile, He loiters with a backw^d*smile, Till you can overtake, And strains his eyes to search this wake, Or, whistling as he sees you thro' the brake, Waits on a stile. ft Wauuux WILLIAM KEMPER WEST William Kemper West, X A '06, died in Seattle, Washington, April 17, 191 1, of spinal meningitis. He had left his wife and child at their home in Portland, Oregon, a few days before to attend to business matters in connection with his law practice at Seattle, and the end came suddenly. He was but twenty-seven years old, and the news of his death, coming without warning, brought great distress and a sense of irreparable loss to people who knew him. His youthfulness and apparent tirelessness and the depth of his many interests in life promised a long and most useful career. He was initiated into the Fraternity February 4, 1903, and his devotion, sincerity and zeal as a worker rendered him a splendid example of brother- hood. His power for good was the greater because the charm of his person- ality and his noble nature were so easily felt and realized by all who knew him. The same zeal and loyalty that marked his fraternal life were apparent in other walks of life. In college and law school, where I knew him inti- mately, he was looked up to and admired by all men alike, and was fre- quently honored by his classmates with responsible positions in class or- ganizations. Always he was active in searching out and working for the general good. Before the close of his Junior year he left college and went to Panama with his father in connection with the work of the Isthmian Canal Com- mission. His departure from college was marked by an incident that ex- pressed in some measure the depth of the love and the high appreciation of those who knew him best. There was presented to him at this time a medal, bearing the shield of the Fraternity, and inscribed with the words, "To Billy, a True Theta Delt." The medal was the gift of the active men in the X A Charge, and a few of his more intimate friends among the graduates. Upon the sudden death of his father in Panama, from yellow fever, he returned to the United States, and took up the study of law. While a student at the law school he was employed in The Isthmian Canal Commission in Washington, where he labored faithfully during the day and often for long periods at night, yet he kept up his studies, and found time to organize and teach a Bible class of young men. At all times and under all circumstances he was a matchless friend — true, helpful and affec- tionate. After completing his course in the law school in 1908, he was married to Miss Helen Beale, of Washington, and moved to Portland, Oregon, where for about two years he was an agent of the Interior Department. The work necessitated long periods of separation from his family, and the hardships and exposure of constant travel in the mountain regions of Oregon. Here the writer knew him again as a dutiful, cheerful, Christian man, absolutely indomitable and unflinching in the face of anything. He spent the last year of his life practicing law in Portland, having resigned his position in the Interior Department. His capacity for good as a lawyer was unbounded. His enthusiasm and industry and his naturally legal mind would have combined to make him an ornament and a power in the profession. In conclusion one can only say: "Through such souls alone, God, stooping, shows Sufficient of his light For us i* the dark to rise by." S. Randolph Mason, X a '07. Iftejsolutfonjs Whereas, Our Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom and infinite mercy, has seen fit to summon from this earthly life to a grander life of immortality, a brother of our beloved Fraternity and of our beloved Charge, William K. West, X a 'o6; and Whereas, Brother William K. West was universally honored for his high ideals and upright, manly character, respected for his attainments and demonstrated ability, and loved by all who knew him for his kindly, helpful affection, and by his brothers for his magnetic enthusiasm and untiring de- votion and service to the Charge and the Fraternity and for his unfailing cheerfulness, determination and buoyant good humor; and Whereas, The brothers of X A feel deeply the sudden and irreparable loss that has come upon them; therefore be it Resolved, That the Governing Boards of the Washington Graduate Asso- ciation and of the X A Charge in special and joint meeting assembled, do express in this feeble form their overwhelming sorrow at the sudden and untimely death of Brother West; and do convey their heartfelt sympathy to the stricken family; and be it also Resolved, That they attend the funeral in a body, and order that the badges of all X A brothers be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days from date hereof; and be it furthermore Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the minutes of the X A Charge and of the Washington Graduate Association, and that a copy be sent to the family and to The Shield. For the Washington Graduate Association of A X, Leonard M. Cox, A '92, President. Walter H. Lee, X a '06, Secretary. For the X A Charge, Eugene W. Bond, X a '12, President. Norman Raymond, X a '14, Secretary. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 160 981 1